


      Modified WEIS Event Codes

Most of the codes that are used in the data sets produced by the KEDS
project are the standard WEIS codes originally developed by Charles
McClelland (see "World Event/Interaction Survey (WEIS) Project,
1966-1978", ICPSR <http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/> Study No. 5211) However,
at various points we have experimented with introducing new codes into
WEIS, borrowing most of these from the PANDA
<http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/ponsacs/research/PANDA_IDEA.htm> project.
We assigned weights to the new codes that are comparable to the weights
used in the Goldstein scale, and those weights are used in the
aggregated data. The full list of these codes can be found on the Documentation, Data and Analysis page.

Tab-delimited text <http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/pschrodt/faces/study/StudyPage.jsp?studyId=18810&tab=files>
list of KEDS WEIS codes

To date, almost all of the analysis in the KEDS project has used the
two-digit WEIS "cue categories" rather than the more detailed 3-digit
codes. Consequently the dictionary development for the new codes has not
been very consistent and some vocabulary will use the original WEIS code
rather than the modified code. For example, the generic WEIS "Promise
other support" code 053 will be used rather than the more specific 055
"Promise rights" code.

We are currently (summer, 2001) in the process of developing extensions
to WEIS that will provide greater detail on international mediation
activities. These will be consistently implemented in specialized
dictionaries that will be available at a later date, along with new data
sets for mediation activity in the Levant, Balkans and West Africa.

